Editorial: Boldness will close pay gap

Gerry Brownlee. Photo / Anthony Phelps

Opinion

The bolder the vision, the bolder must be the action to bring it to fruition. So it must be with the Government's ambition to achieve pay parity with Australia by 2025.

Trudging along the same old road is not going to produce the desired outcome. All that will be delivered is an easy target for political opponents.

That much has been evident in Parliament this week as the Labour Party pounced on Economic Development Minister Gerry Brownlee's statement that the wage gap between the two countries was "certainly a lot less" under National than it was when Labour held office.

Amid statistical claim and counter-claim, it emerged that, even by the Prime Minister's reckoning, the gap in gross average weekly earnings shrank to $137.89 in Labour's final year in 2008 but subsequently widened to today's $160.25.

This provided its own commentary on the Government's attempt to close the gap, which has so far encompassed little more than tinkering with the Resource Management Act and suchlike.

It also cast increasing doubt on the out-of-hand dismissal of the first report of the 2025 Taskforce, the Don Brash-led group charged with advising how to close the income gap. Its prescription of slashing spending, low tax rates, minimal regulation and privatised public services was deemed too radical.

In reality, the Government fears the political damage that would result from its implementation. This accent on short-term popularity has also engendered a cautious approach in other areas that might deliver long-term benefit, including, most recently, the mining of conservation land.

In the Government's defence, it may be too early to deliver a definitive verdict on the effectiveness of its policies. Additionally, it has not helped that Australia was buffeted by the global downturn far less than most. But when relatively little is done, relatively little happens. Things can even go backwards.

TE REO VERSION

MEHEMEA he maia te matakite, kia tino maia ke atu te mahi a te tinana kia puea mai te matakite hei mata kikokiko.Kia pera ano nga mahi mo te wawata nui o te Kawanatanga kia rite tonu te utu i te tangata ki to Ahitereiria i mua i te tau 2025.

Ki te whaia nga huarahi heahea o tau ke, no hea hoki e puta te hua e wawatatia ana. Heoi ano pea te hua, ka noho te kaupapa hei kai ma nga patiti a ona hoariri.

I kitea he peratanga i tenei wiki i Te Whare Paremata. Ka whakatekangia e te Ropu Reipa te whakapuaki a Te Minita mo Te Whanaketanga Ohanga a Gerry Brownlee, i ki ai ia kua "tino iti iho" te tawha utu tangata i waenga i nga whenua e rua inaianei, tena i te wa ko Reipa te Kawanatanga.

Ka rere nga whakapae mo nga tauanga a tetahi, ka tahangia, ka karohia e tetahi. A, ki nga whakaaro o te Pirimia tonu kua heke te tawha utu toharite a-wiki i mua i te take ki te $137.89 i te tau whakamutunga o te Reipa i te tau 2008, engari no muri mai kua whakawhanui atu ano ki te $160.25, o tenei wa.

Hei tenei korero ana ka puta etahi whakamarama mo te whainga a te Kawanatanga ki te karapiti i taua tawha, heoi ano nga mahi kua oti, tae mai ki tenei ra, ko nga rawekeweketanga i te Ture mo nga Rawa Taiao, me etahi atu mahi pera.

He whakapuaki hoki tenei e rangirua ai te tangata mo te whiunga atu o te purongo tuatahi o te Ropu Kokiri o 2005 ki te hau o te takiwa, ara, te purongo a te ropu na Don Brash i arahi, me ana tohutohu mo te katinga i te tawha utu. I kiia ana tohutohu he wawahi taha, ara, nga tohutohu kia haea nga whakapaunga, kia whakahekea te take, kia ouou noa iho nga rekureihana, kia hokona ona ratonga ma te ao ohanga hei kawe.

Kia marama tatou, kei te mataku te Kawanatanga ki nga tukinga ki tona ingoa pai ka hua ake ki te whakatinanatia o taua purongo. Ki te titiro a te kanohi kei te hiahia te Kawanatanga kia paingia nuitia ana mahi e te tini inaianei, engari kua wareware ki nga mahi e puta ai he hua i roto i nga tau, penei i te keri i nga whenua rahui, i enei wiki tata.

Hei kupu tautoko i te Kawanatanga, he moata tonu te wa, e kore e taea te whakawa i te whainga hua o ana mahi. Tetahi hoki, he inati tonu te ora o Ahitereiria i te tukinga o te tupuhi nui o enei tau tata, i uaua ai te karapiti i te tawha. Engari ka iti ana te mahi, ka iti hoki te hauhake.

I etahi wa, he hoki whakamuri te hua.